Sunday, July 20, 1975

Game 4: Toyota 114, Crispa 102 (July 20, 1975)

Finals-bound Toyota completed a six-game sweep of the PBA first conference semifinals by beating Crispa for the second straight time. The loss forced Crispa to play U-Tex in a playoff for a spot in the title series which the Redmanizers won.Toyota tops Crispa anewU-Tex rips Royal, gains playoffBy Ding MarceloBulletin TodayPublished Monday July 21, 1975Toyota, employing what its coach calls a "very simple man-to-man defense," clogged Crispa's vaunted firepower as the Comets made it two straight over the Redmanizers. 114-102, to sweep the Philippine Basketball Association semifinal round at the Araneta Coliseum.The defeat, Crispa's third, allowed U-Tex to tie the Redmanizers for second place and the two teams meet tomorrow in a knockout game to decide which meets Toyota in a best-of-five series for the PBA first conference title.The Weavers forged the deadlock by stopping Royal Tru-Orange, 107-96, in the first match of the twinbill that drew a near-capacity crowd of some 22,000.

It was another bitter misadventure for the Redmanizers who tried grimly but failed miserably in containing the Toyota juggernaut which once underway become so difficult to control.Crispa, which trailed by 12 points, 14-26, midway in the first quarter, made a go for it and took the upperhand, 36-34, in the second quarter but it proved to be the final gasp before Toyota struck with might to reduce the tight, tense contest into a rout.Six-eight Byron "Snake" Jones inflicted the most damage by controlling both boards and topscoring for 27 points while the spitfirish Francis Arnaiz called the shots in another sparkling performance that established the Comets as runaway favorites to capture the crown whoever they may face in the finals.An 18-4 blast triggered by Cristino Reynoso set the Toyota machine grinding, 80-63, from a previous 62-59 count, and for all intents and purposes had the match all sewed out.Reynoso, whose shooting skill netted him 18 points, added more luster into his growing reputation by excelling in defense as he blanked William Adornado throughout the first quarter with the Crispa ace scoring only when Fortunato Acuna relieved Reynoso.Adornado finished with 19 points behind Fortunato Co's 22, but these came sparingly and had no immediate effect against the Comets' consistent scoring."It was a simple man-to-man," explained Toyota coach Dante Silverio on how his boys did it. "But we made it effective because of sustained lung power or stamina," Silverio added.

A dejected coach Baby Dalupan apparently confirming Silverio's observation, blamed stamina as the stronger factor that caused the setback, a rare consecutive loss that was seldom inflicted on Crispa by the same team."We are in a slump," Dalupan said and traced the beginning to his team's match with Royal Tru-Orange where they trailed by 19 points before prevailing in the first round of the semifinals.The one-time incandescent Crispa line-up flickred and dimmed in the face of Toyota's running game and no Redmanizer seemed to rise to the occasion to restore dignity to the proud Crispans.Alberto Guidaben looked sluggish as Jones toyed with him while Johnny Revilla, a temperemental but elegant backcourt man, remained on the bench after what obviously is a deepening rift with Dalupan.Asked if there was anything wrong with Revilla, Dalupan snorted and said: "His head."The individual scores:Toyota - 114Jones 27Arnaiz 25Segura 25C. Reynoso 18Fernandez 10Bauzon 4Clarino 3Jaworski 2Acuna 0Rojas 0Crispa - 102Co 22Adornado 19Cezar 15Franco 12Soriano 12Fabiosa 10De la Cruz 6Sta. Maria 6Calilan 0Guidaben 0Toyota 31 21 32 30 - 114Crispa 26 23 24 29 - 102